German theater
Since 2001, Middlebury’s German Department has had a standing and very successful German Theater Group. Between 2002 and 2014, it won Mt. Holyoke College's German Theater Competition seven times! Founded and directed by Prof. Bettina Matthias, this group stages two full-length plays in German each year. Previous productions include literary masterworks such as Arthur Schnitzler's "Reigen" and "Der grüne Kakadu", Friedrich Dürrenmatts's "Die Physiker" and "Romulus der Große" , Max Frisch's "Biedermann und die Brandstifter", Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's "Urfaust" and Bertolt Brecht's/ Kurt Weill's "Die Dreigroschenoper". But the group has also enjoyed performing Ephraim Kishon's big plays ("Zieh den Stecker raus, das Wasser kocht", "Der Trauschein" and "Es war die Lerche") as well as popular comedies such as "Das hat man nun davon" (Lichtenberg/ Erhardt), Bernd Spehling's "Der Teufel liest auch Kleinanzeigen" as well as a dramatic version of the Grimm's fairy tale "Hänsel and Gretel" called "Hänsel and Gretel or: the Killer Children of Finsterwalde". For information about this semester's show, please contact Prof. Matthias at bmatthia@middlebury.edu.
Photos from some past productions: (At the bottom are scenes from Die Physiker, Fall 2004, and Twist, Spring 2003.)
Urfaust (W. Goethe) Spring 2008 ![]() | ![]() |
Die Dreigroschenoper (B Brecht, K. Weill) Spring 2007 ![]() | Zieh den Stecker raus, das Wasser kocht (E. Kishon) Spring 2006 ![]() |
Romulus der Große (F. Dürrenmatt) Spring 2005 ![]() | Reigen (A. Schnitzler) Fall 2005 ![]() |